Money in the Bank ladder match

Six men will face each other in the Money in the Bank ladder match in attempt to win a briefcase that earns them a WWE title opportunity any time. Let’s take a look at the men participating and their strengths and weaknesses.

Kevin Owens

Strengths

The current United States champion is very familiar with this type of match. He’s already been part of one Money in the Bank match in WWE, an Intercontinental ladder match at WrestleMania 32, and a ladder match for the NXT title. (Granted, he did not win any of those matches.) That’s not to mention all the ladder matches he had before coming into the WWE.

Owens is very agile and has a large gas tank. Plus he loves to get creative with his cruelty. This is KO’s playground.

Weaknesses

The biggest problem for KO in this match are his enemies. Mainly Sami Zayn and AJ Styles. Zayn and Owens have been enemies for a long long time and it often seems Sami is the one who prevents Kevin from winning these type of matches. AJ Styles has beef with Owens as well since the US Champ narrowly escaped Backlash with his title.

AJ Styles

Strengths

He’s one of the best wrestlers in the world. And while this isn’t exactly a wrestling match, Styles cut his teeth in TNA’s X Division. So the Phenomenal One has plenty of experience navigating gimmick matches with a bunch of other guys. His ability and his experience should make him a favorite in this match.

Weaknesses

Very little. He doesn’t have any major enemies in this match. He’s extremely suited for this type of bout. Styles’ worst enemy tonight is going to be luck. Because skill isn’t enough to win this match. You need the winds to blow in your favor as well. If he doesn’t claim the briefcase, chances are a bad draw had something to do with it.

Sami Zayn

Strengths

Much like Owens, Zayn has vast experience in this type of match. He too was in the WrestleMania 32 Intercontinental ladder match and last year’s Money in the Bank match. (Like Owens, he was not victorious in either.) And he and his long time rival shared similar matches in Ring of Honor back in the day.

Sami is clever in the ring and can use his surroundings to his advantage. He will not feel lost in this environment.

Weaknesses

Sami has made an enemy of the vicious Baron Corbin as of late and that could be extremely detrimental to his cause. Corbin is unforgiven and has not forgotten that Zayn has notched a couple wins over him. If there’s a chance to punish Zayn, the Long Wolf will take it.

Also, Zayn often finds himself in dire straights during matches, taking punishment for 90% of the match and firing up for 10% of it. In a match like this where you need to be on your toes to prevent others from winning, the time he spends on the mat (or outside the ring) could be problematic

Baron Corbin

Strengths

Baron is the biggest and meanest man in this match. He has absolutely zero qualms hurting people to get his way. This is the man who crushed another man’s chest with a forklift. He terrorized Kalisto for months just because he didn’t like that the luchador was a smaller, quick competitor.

With ladders to be used as weapons, Corbin could do some serious damage to everyone else in this match. If he is able to unload a vicious streak, he may be able to easily climb to the top and claim his prize.

Everyone hates him. In a multi-man match, sometimes it’s prudent to make an alliance to help the chances later on. But the way the Lone Wolf has treated everyone, who would trust him even for the briefest of alliance?

Plus, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Dolph Ziggler

Strengths

When it comes to WWE ladder matches, Dolph has more experience than anyone in this match. He’s also the only person who’s won a Money in the Bank ladder match so he knows what it takes. And he remembers the euphoria of cashing it in to win the championship. Dolph can lean on his experience for confidence as he battles for his second briefcase.

Weaknesses

His momentum. Despite a couple wins on television, Dolph Ziggler has performed terribly on pay-per-views.

The Show Off’s PPV record since the start of 2016? 2-12. He has one win over Baron Corbin on May 1 on a pre-show and one win over the Miz when he put his career on the line. The numbers don’t lie.

Shinsuke Nakamura

Strengths

Nakamura hits hard and that could be a great weapon to neutralize as many people quickly to open up that window to climb the ladder. Stiff knees and kicks to the torso and head could leave his opponents down for awhile.

Weaknesses

This may be the first ladder match he’s ever been in.

His career prior to WWE was pretty much all in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The first ladder match New Japan ran was after Nakamura left (between Michael Elgan and Kenny Omega). And a look at cagematch.net does not show any ladder matches for the King of Strong Style.

If this really is the first time he’s had to battle multiple people and climb a ladder to win, he could be at a big disadvantage.

It could be any man’s game to see who grabs the briefcase and earns themselves a future title opportunity. Tune into Money in the Bank tonight at 8 EST on the WWE Network to find out who takes it. And keep it here at CagesideSeats.com for all your Money in the Bank coverage.